He may never break Derek Jeter’s record for most career postseason hits (200), but there’s a reason many in the baseball world call him Joctober. A .272 AVG and nine home runs in 170 PA that span 64 total games in the playoffs, Pederson has a ways to go before reaching the level of MLB’s postseason greats like Jeter, Carlos Beltran, or Lou Gehrig. One thing’s for sure, though; it’s a good thing Pederson is finally on our side.
now it's officially Joctober pic.twitter.com/VpGdX0zDih
— Bally Sports: Braves (@BravesOnBally) October 1, 2021
As Braves fans, we know all too well how great the 29-year-old can be when the games matter most. Just consider what Pederson has done against us during his postseason career…
Pederson’s career vs. Braves (postseason)
2018 NLDS – 4 G, .286 AVG, .905 OPS, HR, 2B, RBI
2020 NLCS – 6 G, .389 AVG, .977 OPS, HR, 3 RBI
Then there’s Pederson’s entire body of work in the playoffs, including a four-hit game (against the Braves last year) and five multi-hit finishes. For those of you still new to the Joctober bandwagon, let me help you out.
The rally starter in D.C
This is currently Pederson’s best postseason game so far, at least in terms of the WPA (Win Probability Added) he provided for his team. With LA down 1-0 in a battle against prime-time Max Scherzer of the Nationals in Game 5 of 2016’s NLDS, Pederson delivered with a huge homer off a 96-MPH fastball to lead off the seventh inning. At nearly 100 pitches at that point, that was the only run Scherzer allowed in that pivotal elimination game. After Pederson’s wall-scraping long ball, the Dodgers rallied and wound up scoring three more runs in the inning. LA ended up winning 4-3 to move on to the World Series, where they would lose to Cubs in six games.
Four hits in Atlanta
The 2016 game against Washington was Pederson’s best in terms of contributing towards his team’s win, but last year’s Game 3 performance against the Braves is currently his best overall postseason performance. Pederson contributed with four hits that night, including a homer in the opening inning that ended with the Dodgers up 11-0 after one. LA would go on to win that game 15-3, as well as the series, and Pederson was integral in the Dodgers offense in essentially every one of those seven games.
Joc does it all in the World Series
If you didn’t know about Joctober before, you definitely knew who he was after the 2020 World Series. In that series against the Rays, Pederson slashed .400/.500/.700 with a homer and three RBI.
So let’s review…
After combining to go 0 for 3 during the first two games, Pederson provided a huge single for the Dodgers off starter Charlie Morton in the fourth.
The base-hit pushed Cody Bellinger to third, setting up a scoring opportunity that LA made sure not to squander. The next two batters provided runs for the Dodgers as Austin Barnes bunted home Bellinger and Mookie Betts singled in Pederson. LA ended up winning Game 3 by a score of 6-2.
Pederson didn’t start Game 4 as the Dodgers went with Chris Taylor in left. However, in the seventh, Joctober was summoned off the bench to pinch hit. With LA down 5-4 in the seventh, Pederson slapped an incredibly clutch two-run single to put the Dodgers up by one.
Both teams would go back and forth until the Rays Brett Phillips walked it off with an RBI single in the ninth. But there for a minute, it appeared Joc had given the Dodgers the go-ahead run in a game that, if won, would’ve put Tampa Bay on the brink of elimination.
Game 5 started just like the Dodgers needed it to. After LA scored a pair in the opening inning, and starter Clayton Kershaw went three up and three down, Pederson came to the plate in the second and absolutely crushed a 98-MPH fastball up in the zone by the Rays Tyler Glasnow. Just like that, the Dodgers were up 3-0.
But that wasn’t all Pederson provided in that game. Following a crucial walk in the sixth, Joc made a huge defensive play in the seventh when Tampa Bay’s Joey Wendle sent a deep line drive to left.
The Dodgers would win that game 4-2 and two days later, the World Series. Of the regular players in the LA lineup, Pederson’s .400 AVG was the highest, and basically, every one of his four hits in that series was essential to the Dodgers’ overall success.
Several more examples help define why Joc is known as Joctober. He had another big game versus the Braves back in 2018’s NLDS and one against the Brewers in that year’s League Series. The kid is a former top prospect in the Dodgers system, for goodness sake, highlighted by a 2014 season in which he belted 33 homers and hit .303 in Triple-A in 121 games… and then just a year later, he finished sixth in the NL Rookie of the Year vote. This guy has been a star basically since the day he was drafted, which by the way, was way too late in the 2010 draft.
Sure, Pederson is no longer in his early 20s. He may not be the same player he once was. But if last year’s postseason performance was any indication, the Braves may have an X-factor in its lineup this season. Joctober is on our side now.
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